Is the link canonical tag a good guy wearing a white hat, or a bad guy wearing a black hat? This presentation discusses usage of the link canonical, and includes plenty of Bonanza for good measure.

1. The Link Canonical Tag Adam Audette SEO with Many Hats

2. There’s a new gun in town!

3. (Just don’t wear it like Joe)

4. I’m the SEO with many hats (and they’re all white)

6. “ That new link canonical guy looks cool!”

7. “ What’s the latest on Sphinn...?”

8. “ Just a sec, I gotta tweet that lunch we had....”

13. Watch out for “Mr Bad Guy”

14. “ The name’s LC...”

15. “ Pa, LC’s got me all tied up!”

16. “ It says here comment tags work good for SEO!”

17. “ Aw crap, printing out twitter feeds just don’t work!!”

18. Ideas & Examples from the Field

33. 125 backlinks 120 backlinks

41. “ Try it... if ya got the guts!”

42. www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 200 Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes (sort of a 301) 200 404 301 302 The search result updates

43. www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 404 Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes (sort of a 301) 200 404 301 302 Probably a bad idea

44. www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 301 Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes (sort of a 301) 200 - finished 404 - bad idea 301 302 Canonical target 301 redirects back to parent URL Does this create a loop? www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref

45. www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 302 Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes (sort of a 301) 200 - best case 404 - bad idea 301 - loop? 302 Canonical target 302 redirects back to parent URL Search result should remain www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar %22_ref

46. “ Rescue me from LC’s trap!”

47. “ Let’s redirect the old way from now on, Joe.”

48. Thank you! Adam Audette @audette www.audettemedia.com